A Venture of Faith

The Witness of Fr. Leonid Kishkovsky

ANDREW BOYD

Protopresbyer Leonid Kishkovsky fell asleep in the lord in 2021, a leader in our Church and within the Diocese of New York and New Jersey. Well-known as a pastor, father, and writer, he was at times the most prolific voice for the Orthodox Church in America. 

It’s hard for me to imagine someone within The Orthodox Church in America not knowing Father Leonid’s impressive biography, but a brief summary will help us all remember him more clearly. Father Leonid was born in Warsaw, Poland, in 1943. He arrived in the United States in 1951, after his family spent time as post-war refugees. After spending his adolescence in Los Angles, he attended the University of Southern California and Saint Vladimir’s Seminary. In 1969, he married Alexandra Koulomzine and was ordained deacon and priest. After five years of service on the West Coast, he became rector of the Church of Our Lady of Kazan in Sea Cliff, on Long Island, where he would serve the remainder of his life. In the same year he arrived in Sea Cliff, he started his long service to our central Church administration, eventually leading external affairs and interchurch relations for The Orthodox Church in America and serving as the long-time editor of The Orthodox Church magazine. He also served in various leadership positions in organizations such as the International Orthodox Christian Concern, the World Council of Churches, the National Council of the Churches, and various other ecumenical and inter-religious organizations, charities, and dialogues. 

Taught by our great luminaries like Fathers Alexander Schmemann and John Meyendorff, he continued their work and legacy by representing the newly founded Orthodox Church in America. In this role he was constantly asked to justify the OCA’s existence  and its mission. Our continued autocephaly is largely a product of his own sustained commitment, work, and willingness to go and speak and be present on our behalf. Over decades he was our voice to our sister Orthodox Churches, to the greater Christian community, to other religious leaders, and often to politicians as well. He never feared to go anywhere he was invited, often speaking hard truths along the way. He could also be the OCA’s toughest critic, quick to make known when our leaders were stepping away from our clear vision and Gospel calling. 

At the same time, for me and many others, Father Leonid was first and foremost a pastor of a picturesque church in Sea Cliff. In my early twenties, I lived in a basement apartment down the street from the parish for some time, and I often visited for services. There, I observed Father Leonid in his element, leading a small but dedicated community in the beauty of our Liturgy, pastoring people in need of guidance and generosity. It was warm and hospitable. Every time I visited I felt like I was participating in liturgy in his and Matushka’s own living room.  

Father Leonid had a commanding presence. He seemed to know every conceivable religious leader, and could also get them on the phone on a moment’s notice. His influence and notoriety were impressive, but they were part and parcel of his work as a pastor. He didn’t do anything for his own status or ego. He viewed all of his work as his duty, and he carried it out with love and sobriety. 

With the passing of people like Father Leonid, it saddens me to think about how many acts of mercy, how many instances of peacemaking have been lost in our collective memory. So much of what he accomplished was done behind the scenes—impactful, but unknown to most of us. There simply was not a moment in the history of the OCA that Father Leonid was not involved in, to some degree.

However, there is one story I hope never gets lost to memory, one that demonstrates the kind of impact Father Leonid had on the world outside his beloved parish on Long Island. In 1999, during the crisis in Serbia and Kosovo, Father Leonid was called upon to join a group of religious leaders on a trip to Serbia in order to help influence the volatile situation towards peace. Led by Rev. Jesse Jackson, this delegation of Christian, Jewish, and Muslim leaders arrived in Belgrade at the height of tensions between Slobodan Milošević’s regime, Kosovars, and NATO countries. 

Amid the worst kind of ethnic and religious violence, Rev. Jesse Jackson, Father Leonid, and two others were able to secure a private meeting with Milošević, advocating for the release of three US military POWs. I’ll let Father Leonid tell the story in his own words:

“We went in as a venture of faith without much relative chance of success … It was quite a roller coaster! … Everything depended on our conversation with Milosevic[.] In our conversations with other officials, we were getting a grim picture of no flexibility. We thought there was no light at the end of the tunnel, just the lights of an approaching train … He was tough, and yet there was an undertone of flexibility … We told him that we were concerned about all the people who are suffering … but our perception was that things would get worse.

We did make the point that the military logic is inexorable, and there, I believe, Mr. Milosevic was listening intently. He appeared to understand that the delegation did not represent a signal of change in NATO or US policy, and I think he clearly perceived that we were there on our own, neither discouraged nor encouraged by the US government, but nevertheless not hostile to our government.

During the meeting, it was emphasized to President Milosevic that the release of the POWs, while an important gesture, in and of itself would not change very much … He was told that, if the release served as a symbol that violence in Kosovo would cease, that refugees would be permitted to return safely to their homes, and that an international force will be present in Kosovo, then its an opening toward a peaceful solution … Within hours, we received word that the POWs would be freed.

In the context of violence, bombings, ethnic tensions, and historic grievances, Father Leonid stepped in, in an unbelievable venture of faith, alongside some (perhaps unlikely) allies, and helped to make peace happen. It required putting his own life on the line. 

This group of religious leaders also called for an end to bombing from NATO and allied forces, which happened within a few days. The release of the hostages also helped cool tensions and likely paved the way for the initial peace plan that was accepted a month later.

It may appear difficult to tie together Father Leonid’s profile as an international peacemaker with his life as a pastor of a small parish. But the image of him presiding at liturgy in the homey community in Sea Cliff, set next to him negotiating with Slobodan Milošević on the brink of total war, brings a smile to my face. Father Leonid was himself totally in both circumstances, seeing it all as a venture of faith, whether he was working for the salvation and uplifting of an individual member of his parish family, for the survival of the Orthodox Church in America, or for peace and the cessation of destructive violence and hatred.

May the Lord, grant us a measure of Father Leonid’s unwavering faith, in our own gospel mission, in the Orthodox Church in America, and in the power of a word of love to bring peace. 

Andrew Boyd is a graduate of Saint Vladimir’s Seminary and a parishioner at St. Mark’s Church in Bethesda, Maryland. He works in investment research and asset management.